Our loved ones are only with us for a finite amount of time. We must cherish them while we still can, for we never know when they will be taken away from us. Just as he was taken away from her. IchigoxSoifon. YoruichixSoifon if you squint.

Bah. I just couldn't let it lay like that. So I decided to finish this thing on a semi-positive note. Feel free to guess who's voice that was at the end....

Epilogue

A birthday wish?

My only wish...wouldn't matter anyway.

I can't have what's already gone.

---

It was done.

Finally, completely, totally, absolutely, done.

Soi fon exhaled heavily, whiping the sweat away from her brow. She'd been up all night, and had to recheck, triple, and quadruple check it, but the blasted paperwork, the bane of every captain's existence, was finally done. Casting one last baleful glare at the desk, Soi fon heaved herself out of the chair, and took a step towards the kitchen.

If it was her birthday, she might as well enjoy the last few minutes she had remaining of it. And a long all-nighter like this deserved some much needed comfort food. A gallon of ice cream should do the trick, and she didn't have to worry about gaining any weight. after all, she'd probably burn the whole thing off and more during tomorrow's demonstration anyway. Thanks to that Inoue girl, she'd recovered her arm, and had been able to keep her status as a captain.

But scarcely had she tiptoed to the freezer...

"WAH!" Then a loud, high ptiched cry pierced the night, setting off every alarm in her head.

Soi fon felt a small, familair shiver run down her spine, her eyes narrowing her hands clenching into a fist as the adrenaline coursed through her veins for the first time in a century. Such a noise at this hour? An intruder?! No, wait, the sound wasn't coming from the door. In fact, it was coming from....

Slowly, her muscles uncoiled when she realized it was only the baby.

Swiftly, Soi fon strode to her bedside, and sure enough, the cries were emanating from the crib. Slowly, Soi fon reached into the crib, and scarcely had she appeared, then the infant quieted.

"Sh, Sora." She cooed, cradling her child softly. Sh. It's alright."

Inquisitive brown eyes, framed by a messy mop of orange hair, stared up at her, and the baby made a gurgling sound, that even the infamous Mayuri Kurotsuchi would have been unable to label as anything other than adorable. For the second time in month's, Shaolin Fon felt her heart leap into her throat and stay there. She looked so much like him, it was uncanny. And she was growing so fast!

Unbidden, she felt her eyes begin to tear up again.

"Oh, is she up?"

Despite her many, many years as head of the stealth force, Soi fon was still unprepared for what happened next, and gave a small eep as a pair of tan arms wrapped themselves around her waist, followed by a familair face, sporting mischevious golden eyes.

"Y-Yoruichi-sama!"

The Goddess of Flash had become a welcome prescence in Soi fon's life, following the six months of peace and calm that had begun, following the events of the winter war. Now, she often came and went as she pleased, and now, well, it was just another one of her random checking in events.

Sora let out a delighted cry, and Yoruichi chose that moment to release her lover, and snatch her away.

"Ooh," She cried in a playful voice, tossing her up and down lightly, eliciting squeals of delighted laughter from Sora as she did so. "You're getting so big and strong, Sora-chan! Just like your daddy!"

"Y-Yoruichi-sama!" Soi fon whined impatiently. It was late, Eleven fifty five PM to be exact, and right now, she wanted nothing more than to just go to bed, but at the moment, that didn't seem very likely.

"Hmm?" Yoruichi blinked, paused, and quickly caught Sora, cradling the child against her rather ample bosom. Soi fon blushed a bit at this, and averted her gaze, which in turn elicited a pleasant smile from Yoruichi. "Something wrong, Soi fon?"

"N-Nothing."

"Heh, you always did get flustered easily."

"I guess some things never change, do they, Yoruichi-san?"

Now, Soi fon froze, and at the same time, was very, very glad that Sora was being held by Yoruichi, for right now, she just might've dropped her daughter out of sheer shock. She knew that voice, she'd heard it a thousand times. The reaitsu was unmistakeable, as was the arrogant, yet slightly loose prescence its owner exuded. She wanted to look, but something told her if she did, then she'd sorely regret it.

"Something wrong, Soi fon?" The voiced asked again, closer this time. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

She glanced to Yoruichi-sama, but her mentor was all smiles, whilst Sora seemed to be staring intently at whoever it was that had appeared behind her mother.

"Well, I'll just leave the two of you alone. C'mon kiddo, you're momma needs some private time."

"Impossible." Soi fon breathed, both as Yoruichi walked into the kitchen,and as the arm encircled her neck, pulling her backwards into his chest. Her body stumbled, too confused, her mind too muddled to even consider moving.

This was impossible.

"I told you, never die, remember?" He breathed into her ear, his lips grazing the earlobe, and Soi fon shuddered involuntarily, a small gasp parting her pursed lips as he continued to speak. "Why do you think I told you that?"

Before she could answer, he seized her by the shoulders, and spun around with such force, that for a moment, she was too dizzy to make anything out other than a blur.

But finally, her vision cleared. And she gaped, gasped, even gawked for a moment.

"This....is a dream." She muttered at last, unable to believe her eyes. "You...you can't be here!"

He grinned, exposing pearly white teeth as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Can't I?"

"This...this isn't real! This will all be gone when I pinch myself and count to three!"

"And yet...here I am." He chuckled as she violently pinched herself, only to earn a pained yelp in reply. "And, whaddya know, one, two, three, it looks like you're awake, too. Care to explain that one, Soi fon?"

"I...you...I....

"Here, allow me to simplify." Before she could react, he'd already placed one hand beneath her chin, and tilted her face up to meet his. Steel grey eyes shot open as her lips reflexively parted and his tongue found its way into her mouth. He pulled away then, and uttered six, simple words.

"Looks like you got your wish."

"Nani?" She hurriedly glanced towards the clock, just as it struck twelve. If she'd been expecting him to vanish or something now that it was a new day, than she was in for a surprise, as his hands moved to her waist, and finally, the rest of his face came into the moonlight.

"Happy Birthday, Soi fon." Ichigo whispered.

Fin.

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